Dispensing container or carton



1944. E. w. KIRKLAND ET AL DISPENSING CONTAINER 0R CARTON Filed NOV. 18, 1942 Patented Feb. 15, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Edward W. Kirkland and Herman E. Otto, Buffalo, N. Y., asslgnors to Cooper Paper Box Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 18, 1942, Serial No. 465,960

10 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in paper or cardboard cartons for the packaging and convenient dispensing of freely flowing materials, such as talcum powder, tooth powder, and the like.

It has for one of its objects to provide a carton of this character which is made of a single blank of material and embodies as an integral part thereof a self-contained dispensing head including a fracturable portion which normally seals the contents of the carton and which can be readily broken when it is desired to dispense the contents therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dispensing carton which is simple and inexpensive in construction, which can be readily folded or set up for use, and wherein the dispensing head of the carton is provided with a fracturable selfcontained, captive closure member designed to effectually seal the container-contents until the purchaser desires to make use thereof, when he can readily fracture or separate the closure from its anchored position and thereafter shift it at will to an open or closed position, as desired.

Other features of the invention reside in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the dispensing carton embodying our invention. Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof, partly in section, showing the fracturable sealing or closure member in its closed position. Figure 3 is a similar view but showing the closure member in its open position for dispensing purposes. Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the dispensing end of the carton showing the self-contained closure construction on one of the end walls or flaps in its final assembled position. Figure 5 is a similar view showing the closure construction in its partially folded condition prior to final assembly.

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross section taken on line B--6, Figure 1. Figure '7 is a plan view of the blank from which the carton is made.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

This dispensing carton is made of cardboard or like material, that shown in the drawing, by way of example, being rectangular in shape and formed from a single blank to of cardboard by cutting and scoring the same as indicated at II and I2, respectively, to provide side walls [3, lower closure flaps or end walls i4, and upper closure flaps or end walls l5, I6, I1 and I8, whereby the several walls may be folded or bent in an obvious manner and glued to form the completed carton. At one of its side edges the blank is provided with a longitudinal sealing strip IQ for connecting the side walls into a box-like unit.

The upper group of overlapping closure flaps form the dispensing end of the carton and one of the flaps is provided with an integral and selfcontained, fracturable closure construction which normally closes or seals the carton-contents against discharge and which can be readily opened or unsealed when it is desired to dispense the contents. The foldable end walls l5-ll, inclusive, are each provided with a discharge port or perforation 20 so located that in the folded condition of the carton these perforations register with each other. The end flap l8, which is located outermost in the folded condition of the carton, has dispensing ports 2| therein in register with the companion ports 20 and constitutes the discharge or dispensing controlling element of the carton and for this purpose is preferably provided with an extension 22 including a plurality of interfolding sections 23, 24 and 25. The intermediate section 23, adjoining the flap I8, is substantially of the same dimensions as such flap and is connected thereto by a fold line 26, while the companion sections 2 1, 25 are joined as a unit to the section 23 by a fold line 21 parallel to the fold line 26. The section 24 is comparatively narrow and serves as a marginal sealing strip for the section 25 for securing it to the contiguous faces of the section 23 and flap ill in the assegmbled, overlying folded condition of such parts, as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. The companion section 25, which serves as a fracturable end captive sealing-closure for the flap-perforations 20 and 2i, is connected to the adjoining end of the sealing-flap section 24 by a fracturable fold line 28 disposed parallel to the fold 21. The extensionsections are folded in overlying relation against the underside of the flap l8 with the sealable section 24 and the fracturable section 25 disposed between the latter and the intermediate section 23, as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. The discharge port or perforation 2| of the latter is adapted to register with the other perforations 20 in the closed condition of the container, and the fracturable section 25 in the folded assembled condition of these parts, overlies and closes these discharge perforations to seal the contents in the container. At its outer or free end the fracturable section is reduced in width to provide a finger tab 29 which, in the folded condition of the parts, is adapted to extend through a companion opening 30 in that portion of the flap l8 and the section 23 adjacent the fold 26, whereby to expose this tab for manual gripping engagement when it is desired to break the seal and render the carton operative for dispensing its contents. It will be noted that the finger tab, in the closed position of the fracturable section 25, is contained within the area of the carton-body. When it is desired to use the carton after purchase and dispense its contents, the user grasps the finger tab and smartly pulls it outwardly to break the fracturable fold connection 28 between the sealed section 24 and the section 25 to thereby uncover the discharge ports 2i, 2! and the remaining alining registering perforations 20 in the end flaps. The tab-forming portion of the end section 25 forms resulting shoulders 3i at opposite sides thereof and those portions of the fold 2d at opposite sides of the opening 30 in the end flap l8 form companion shoulders 32, which shoulders jointly limit the outward displacement of the fracturable end section and thereby retain it captive between the companion section 23 and the underlying flap is. After the closure section is once broken from its companion sealed section 24, it is free to be moved at will to and from an open position.

We claim as our invention:

1. A container of the character described, comprising a cardboard body having overlapping end closure flaps having registering perforations therein, the outermost flap including a plurality of interfolded sections constituting a dispensing head, one of the sections having dispensing perforation therein in line with the remaining flapperforations and the other section having a fracturable connection to the companion first-named section and normally covering the perforation thereof to seal the container-contents.

2. A container of the character described, comprising a cardboard body having overlapping end closure flaps having registering perforations therein, the outermost flap including an endwise extensionfolded upon itself and against said flap in underlying relation thereto, that foldable portion of the extension adjoining its flap having dispensing perforations therein in line with the remaining flap-perforations and an opening therein adjoining its fold, and the companion foldable portion having a fracturable connection to said adjoining portion and normally overlying the dispensing perforation thereof to seal the container-contents and having a finger-engaging tab at its free end extending through said opening.

3. A container of the character described, comprising a cardboard body having overlapping end closure flaps having registering perforations therein, the outermost flap including an intermediate section and a fracturable end section folded in underlying relation against the underside of said flap with the end section disposed between the latter and the intermediate section and constituting a fracturable sealing closure for said registering flap-perforations, said end section terminating at its free end in a finger tab in exposed relation to the outermost flap.

4. A container of the character described, comprising a cardboard body having overlapping end closure flaps having registering perforations therein, the outermost flap includingan intermediate section and a fracturable end section folded in underlying relation against the underside of said flap with the end section disposed between the latter and the intermediate section,

the latter having dispensing perforations therein in registering alinement with said flap-perforations and the outermost fiap having an opening therein adjacent the connected fold of its adjoining section, the end section constituting a fracturable closure for the several perforations and terminating at its free end in a finger tab extending into said outermost flap opening, whereby upon exerting a pull on said tab the end section is severed from the intermediate section to uncover the flap-perforations to permit dispensing of the container-contents.

- 5. A container of the character described, comprising a cardboard body having overlapping end closure flaps having registering perforations therein, the outermost flap including an intermediate section and a fracturable end section folded in underlying relation against the underside of said flap with the end section disposed between the latter and the intermediate section, the latter having dispensing perforations therein in registering alinement with said flap-perforations and the outermost flap having an opening therein intersecting the connected fold of its adjoining section, the remaining portions of such fold forming stop shoulders, the end section constituting a fracturable closure for the several perforations and having a finger tab projecting therefrom into said outermost flap opening, those edges of the end section adjoining its tab being adapted to abut said fold-forming shoulders in the fractured, open position of the end section to limit its opening movement.

-6. A dispensing head construction for cartons, comprising a main section, an intermediate section disposed in foldable relation thereto, and an end section having a fracturable connection to the intermediate section and adapted to assume a position in interfoided relation between the latter and said main section, the main and intermediate sections having alining discharge perforations therein normally closed by the intervening fracturable end section.

7. A dispensing head construction for cartons, comprising a main section, an intermediate section disposed in foldable relation thereto, and an end section having a fracturable connection to the intermediate section and adapted to assume a position in interfolded relation between the latter and said main section, the main and intermediate sections having alining discharge perforations therein normally closed by the intervening fracturable end section, the latter having a finger tab at its free end and the main section having a companion opening therein through which said tab is exposed for actuation.

8. A container of the character described, comprising foldable side walls and top and bottom end walls and a longitudinal sealing strip for connecting the side walls into a box-like unit, the top end walls having alining perforations therein, one of such end walls including an extension having an intermediate section and a fracturable end section folded in underlying relation against the underside of said wall with the end section disposed between the latter and the intermediate section and constituting a fracturable sealing closure for said registering perforations, the end section having a finger tab thereon in exposed relation to its attaching end wall, that marginal portion of said end section adjoining its fold being adapted to be secured to theadjoining faces of the companion end wall and its intermediate section and the remaining portion of such section being joined to its marginal portion by a tracturable connection.

9. A dispensing head construction for cartons,

' comprising a main section, an intermediate seccardboard scored and slit to provide foldable side walls and top and bottom end walls, the top end walls having perforations therein adapted to be aimed in the folded condition of the carton, one of the perforated end walls having an extension joined to such wall by a fold line and the extension having a fracturable line intermediate its ends and parallel to the first-named fold line, the

resulting end portion of such extension having a.

finger tab thereon and the companion perforated end wall having an opening therein in registering alinement with said tab.

HERMAN OTTO.

EDWARD W. KIRKLAND. 

